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Three Halifax County High School wrestlers, Patrick Simmons, Tyler Mabe and Cameron Blunt, each collected wins in the 5A North Region Wrestling Tournament held Friday and Saturday at Orange County High School.

The Comets qualified five wrestlers to compete in the regional tournament but fell short of qualifying any wrestlers for the upcoming Group 5A state tournament.

Every season our goal is states, said Comets Head Coach David Riddle.

We talk about it on Day One, and we fell short there, but there were some positives. We had three out of five wrestlers advance to the second day of the tournament.

We always hate to see a season come to an end, Riddle added, but Coach (Jay) Cole and myself were extremely pleased with the progress we saw this year.

We had double the wins as a team, a solid majority of the team finished the year with winning records individually, and we are looking at returning almost everyone next year.

Simmons, wrestling in the 220-pound weight class, won his first-round match, but lost matches in the quarterfinal and consolation rounds.

Mabe, wrestling in the 145-pound weight class, lost his first round match, won a match in the first round of the consolation round, but lost his match in the second round of consolations.

Blunt lost his opening-round match, won his first-round match in the consolation bracket, and lost his match in the second round of the consolation bracket.

Tyler Hudson in the 138-pound weight class, and Matthew Jones in the 182-pound weight class each went 0-2 at the regional tournament.

Hudson and Jones lost out the first day, but both had strong matches in the second round of consolations, and they will both be able to use this experience for next season, Riddle pointed out.

Riddle noted Simmons had perhaps the most impressive performance at the regional tournament.

One of the most impressive things we had happen on day one was the round one match for Pat Simmons, Riddle explained.

He was wrestling as a three seed and beat the two seed from Marshall.

Pat was new to the sport this year, so that was huge for him. He had two solid matches after that against tough opponents to lose out, but that first win was big for us as a team. I think it woke the entire group up.

Mabe and Blunt lost their first matches, Riddle continued, then had impressive wins in consolation round one, added Riddle.

Unfortunately, they both lost the next day in their first matches but both fought very tough opponents from Patrick-Henry Roanoke.

For Blunt, a senior, the regional tournament was his last competition for the Comets wrestling team.

We hate to lose Blunt and the experience that he brought with him, Riddle said, but the future for Comet wrestling looks like it is going to continue to be bright.

VHSL Region 5A North

Results for Halifax

138 – Tyler Hudson (0-2) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.

February 13, 2017 by Elizabeth Zubritsky Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov is captured using a telescope on December 22 from Farm Tivoli in Namibia, Africa. Credit: Gerald Rhemann

Comet hunters still have a chance to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov in the next few days using binoculars or a telescope. It’s the first of a trio of comets that willbetween now and the end of 2018pass close enough to Earth for backyard observers to try to spot and for scientists to study using ground-based instruments.

Comet 45P will come closest to Earth on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 11, when it passes by at a distance of about 7.7 million miles (12.4 million kilometers), or more than roughly 30 times the distance between Earth and the moon. It is currently in the early morning eastern sky, though the full moon may make the comet more difficult to spot. The recommendation for backyard astronomers is to use binoculars or a telescope to look for the comet several times during the coming days.

Discovered in 1948, 45P is a short-period comet, with an orbit that takes it around the sun and out by Jupiter about every 5-1/4 years. This weekend’s encounter will be the comet’s closest with Earth through the end of this century. The comet will pass by our planet again in 2032 but will be much farther away at a distance of nearly 30 million miles (about 48 million kilometers).

Scientists have taken advantage of 45P’s approach, making observations using powerful ground-based telescopes such as NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility to investigate the gases, dust and ice particles that are released from the comet nucleus and show up in the coma and tail. By looking for water, methane and other important compounds, astronomers get clues about how the comet is put together and where it originated in the cloud of material that surrounded the young sun as the solar system formed.

By observing the same comet more than once, astronomers can see how the object changes over time.

“Observing a comet multiple times over successive orbits is like taking snapshots at different stages of life,” said Joseph Nuth, a senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “And some comets have harder lives than others, depending on how close they get to the sun. We can learn about these effects by comparing different comets with varying perihelion distances over time.”

Ground-based observations also are planned for comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, which will pass closest to Earth on April 1, 2017, and for comet 46P/Wirtanen, passing closest to Earth on Dec. 16, 2018. By studying this trio of comets, astronomers can learn more about the differences among comets information they use to fill in the comet family tree.

“Comet 46P in particular will remain within 10 million miles of Earth for several weeks, from December 4 through 28, 2018,” said Goddard researcher Michael DiSanti. “This will permit detailed studies of its material, as successive regions of the comet’s nucleus become exposed to sunlight.”

Another reason to check out the skies tonight and early Saturday is the full moon with a penumbral eclipse. For more information, see nasa.tumblr.com/post/157061320334/subtle-lunar-eclipse

Explore further: Full moon, comet starring in night sky show this weekend

A full moon and comet share double billing in a special night sky show this weekend.

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Comet 252P/LINEAR just after a close encounter with Earth on March 21. The close proximity to the comet offered scientists new insights on the body’s nucleus.

Astronomers at the Planetary Science Institute made observations of Comet Pan-STARRS (P/2016 BA14) using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i that show that it reflects less than 3 percent of …

ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, saw a bright comet plunge towardthe sun on Aug. 3-4, 2016, at nearly 1.3 million miles per hour. Comets are chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun, usually …

Looking for a good binocular comet? Well, if luck is on our side, we should be getting our first looks at periodic Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov as it tops +10th magnitude in dusk skies over the next few weeks.

Astronomers were watching when comet P/2016 BA14 flew past Earth on March 22. At the time of its closest approach, the comet was about 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, making it the third closest comet flyby …

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new giant radio galaxy (GRG) associated with the galaxy triplet known as UGC 9555. The newly discovered galaxy turns out to be one of the largest …

The search for planets beyond our solar system is about to gain some new recruits.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a supergiant red star ended its life in a spectacular explosion known as a supernova.

An international team of astronomers released the largest-ever compilation of exoplanet-detecting observations made using a technique called the radial velocity method. They demonstrated how these observations can be used …

Comet hunters still have a chance to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov in the next few days using binoculars or a telescope. It’s the first of a trio of comets that willbetween now and the end of 2018pass close …

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It was not easy and it was not always pretty but the Kansas City Comets came from behind to beat the Dallas Sidekicks 7-5 and earn their 100th regular season win for the franchise. Ramone Palmer led the Comets with two goals and Vahid Assadpour added a goal and two assists at crucial times.

The Comets and Sidekicks came into the match from opposite points of view but both needing the win. Kansas City leads the Central division and needed the win to stay in the playoff zone with a couple tough division rival matches to wrap up the season.

Dallas was in third in the Southwest and needed the win to stand a chance to make post season and the start of the game showed that desire by the Sidekicks.

The first quarter was almost all Dallas. After almost scoring less than a minute in (missed a wide open goal), the Sidekicks took the lead at 2:51 on a goal by Jamie Lovegrove. Scores by VcMor Eligwe and Cameron Brown at 5:09 and 10:26 had the first quarter in control for Dallas.

The Comets regrouped and started chipping away at the lead in the second quarter. After just one shot by the Comets in the first, they ramped up the attack on goal in the second with a total of ten shots. Finally Ramone Palmer redirected Assadpours pass into the far corner at the 9:17 mark.

The two teams went into the half with the score 3-1 in favor of Dallas but momentum had shifted to Kansas Citys favor.

Dallas tried to recreate the early success in the game in the third quarter and did add to their lead with another goal by Eligwe but the Comets took control and added four straight goals (Bryan Perez, Robert Palmer, Assadpour and Brian Harris) to take the lead 5-4 in the fourth quarter.

The Sidekicks were on a defensive footing most of that time but did not go quietly, Eligwe added his third midway through the fourth to even it back up but the Comets turned the pressure up again.

The Comets regained the lead when Ramone Palmer received a pass in the middle of the box from Harris and was able to turn on it before the defense could collapse on him for a power play goal.

Dallas went with the sixth attacker but a combined team pressure of Lucas Rodriguez, Robert Palmer and Stefan Stokic led to a late goal by Stokic to make the final score 7-5 for Kansas City.

For you guys its entertaining, for me its a heart attack, head coach Goran Karadzov told media after the match.

The Comets have had a number of very close games this season, one goal games and wins with last minute goals. That is not making Karadzov happy. This is not the first time, more like the fifth time we wait until the last minute or two to win the game, Karadzov observed. Its always good to get the win but we have to approach differently, this isnt going to work in the playoffs being down three or four goals. We wouldnt be able to recover. Chemistry it is good to build character for the team but I would greatly prefer we can win it in the first three quarters and the fourth quarter just to keep it.

Veteran defender Stefan Stokic felt the slow start resulted from a little overconfidence. I think we came in to the first half thinking it was going to be an easy game, Stokic explained. They got some easy goals and we had to step up and that is what we did in the second half.

Good teams find a way to win, Comets captain Vahid Assadpour stated. We didnt start out the way we wanted to and we were down 3-0 at one point but momentum is going our way. When you do the right things the ball will bounce your way.

Assadpour expressed his pride in being part of the Comets 100 wins. Its great. I spent four years in Detroit before I came here and this is my seventh year with the Comets. Its unbelievable and a big accomplishment. Its amazing for the organization and the few guys that have been here since day one.

KEOSAUQUA For the second straight postseason, conference rivals Cardinal and Van Buren tangled on a Saturday night in the opening game of Class 2A regional tournament play.

There was one big difference in this year’s first round contest, and it’s a pretty obvious difference to any one that has watched the 16-win Warriors this season.

Taryn Schuererman stood head and shoulders about everyone on the floor on Saturday as the 6-3 Van Buren freshman poured in 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and swatted away five Cardinal shots as the Warriors continued their impressive turnaround by returning to the regional quarterfinal round with a 53-27 victory over the Comets. The win is the third straight this season over a Cardinal team that beat the Warriors twice last year in the regular season.

“We had a lot of good looks and good passes. I think we played a pretty good game all around,” Schuererman said about Saturday’s postseason win. “I think it’s been easier for me this season because I’ve been playing travel ball for the past few years. I’ve played up on the 15 and 16U levels. I think it has made me stronger as a player.”

Schuererman’s big night did not start off with a bang from the inside, however. The versatile prep newcomer drained a 3-pointer after winning the game’s opening tip, showing a facet to her game that makes the Van Buren freshman even more of a headache for opposing coaches.

“When you’ve got a girl that big that can step back and shoot the three, it’s a heck of a weapon to have,” Van Buren head girls basketball coach Matt Zeitler said. “When she can go outside and hit shots, you can’t just focus on forcing her away from the basket.”

Scheuerman, however, would not score again from the final until the final minutes of the opening quarter. Cardinal answered the opening 3-pointer by the Warriors with a tying shot from Autumn Deshler, one of four Comet seniors who did not want Saturday to be their final night on the court in red and white.

“The girls worked really hard in practice and they didn’t want to be anywhere else but on that court together,” Cardinal head girls basketball coach Kayla Eakins said. “We forced (Scheuerman) into a few turnovers early on. I think that’s because of how much pressure we were putting on her defensively.”

Cardinal forced four lead changes in the first quarter with the Comets taking their last lead of the season on a pull-up jumper by another senior, Sarah Schmidt, with three minutes left in the period. The height all around of the Warriors proved to be too much for Cardinal to handle with Van Buren snaring 44 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, turning second chances into a six-point run to end the first quarter with a 12-7 lead.

Despite nearly matching Cardinal herself in total points, Scheuereman did not have her best shooting night going just 7-17 from the field and missing her last four attempts from 3-point territory. Eight of Scheuereman’s 23 points came from the free throw line, where the post power is working to get more consistent with teams including Cardinal left with no alternative than to foul once the ball gets thrown down low to the Warrior freshman.

“I shoot free throws really well in practice. For some reason, during games, I don’t seem to handle the pressure quite as well,” Scheuereman said. “That’s something I just have to keep working on.”

Defensively, Scheuereman added five more blocks to one of the top totals in the state. The Van Buren freshman is one of just four players across Iowa this season with over 100 blocks and is currently third in that total with 128.

“It helps that we have so many girls that have played together for so long,” Scheuermann said. “You can tell that each class is working together. Now, it’s all starting to come together for us as a team.”

Eakins will hope that the Cardinal girls basketball program can experience a turnaround of their own next season after wrapping up the 2016-17 campaign with a 1-21 record. Gone from the team will be Deshler, Schmidt, Cassidy Jameson and Kaylie Blunt who led Cardinal in her final girls basketball game with nine points on Saturday.

“We definitely improved as a team during the course of this season. We started the year averaging 30 turnovers a game. There were times we couldn’t even get the ball up the floor,” Eakins said. “We’ve improved handling the basketball and seeing the floor. We’ve got a lot of good, young players coming back. (Junior) Jamie White has a great shot. Freshmen like Madison Cloke and Lydia Moses could be special players.

“It’s all about the work the girls want to put in to improve during the offseason. That, to me, is when next season truly begins.”

Van Buren (16-6), meanwhile, will head to 16-4 Pekin on Tuesday night for what could be an instant classic in the Class 2A, Region 8 quarterfinals. Both teams played for divisional titles on the last night of SEISC conference play this season and have been somewhat surprising in their success this season with the Panthers replacing four senior starters while the Warriors start a pair of freshmen.

Tuesday’s tilt will also be a fascinating clash of style. Scheuereman leads a powerful interior attack for the Warriors that will have to match up with the guard play of Pekin, led by junior scoring leader Maci Gambell’s 20.4 points per game.

“I’m looking forward to the match-up,” Scheuereman said of facing Gambell on Tuesday. “I’m ready to block her shot.”

In high school girl’s basketball, as with most other sports, the focus is usually lighting up the scoreboard. But you can be just as successful stressing defense. The Lady Comet’s smothering defense propelled them to a regional title by making it hard for the Lady Warriors to put the ball in the basket in the second half.

Lady Comet’s Head Coach Jeff Ford was very impressed with his team’s second half performance. He stated, Early in the season, if we got down to a great team like Wateska, we probably would have lost the game. The girls have matured, and have been playing pretty solid in big game situations. We were only up four points at halftime, but in second half we hit our open shots, and forced turnovers, which helped win the game.

Earlier in the regional semifinals, the Oakwood Lady Comets squeaked by Bismarck-Henning 36-33. The Lady Comet’s tenacious defense was the MVP of the regional tournament. The Comets forced 18 turnovers, and easily scored 16 points off these miscues. Young paced the Lady Comets with 13 points, Neuman added nine points. The Lady Comets improve to 26-5 overall, and will compete at the IHSA Class 2 A St. Thomas More sectionals this week.

Three Point Showdown Advancers were Young, and Salt Fork’s Madison Kirby and Kayleigh Davis.

Craters Javon Gill (285) pinned teammate Cameron Sweet in 1:39 to lock up the heavyweight title, while Nathan Santoni (138) took down Bryce Cwiklinski by majority decision, 16-6, for the Comets.

At 195 pounds, Thurstons Avery Jaramillo pinned James Pendleton of Crater in 1:38 for the victory, and the Colts Jackson Casteel pinned Craters Beau Crawford in 5:59 to win at 220.

Springfields Joseph Michelson won the 160 class with a pin of Craters Cameron Savage in 3:12 for the Millers only first-place finish of the day, and North Eugenes Alec Nolan finished first in the 126-pound class with an 8-6 victory over Craters Isaiah Griffith.

Also Saturday

Special District 2 Championships

Sweet Home earned four weight-class victories and took first place with 383 points. Jackson Royer pinned Cameron Truesdell of Junction City in 44 seconds at 106 pounds. The Huskies Kobe Olson defeated teammate Travis Thorpe 2-0 at 126, Jake Porter pinned Asa Alexander of Cascade in 13 seconds at 145 and Bryce Coulter defeated Matt Carrillo of North Marion 10-4 at 182. Junction City finished fourth with 1471/2 points and Elmira was fifth with 1271/2. The Falcons Dylan Porter defeated John Dover of Junction City 11-3 at 285 pounds. Sutherlin was sixth with 126 and Cottage Grove was 12th with 65.

Special District 3 Championships

Marshfield scored 367 points to outdistance Henley and win the district title at South Umpqua High School. The Hornets came in second with 2951/2 points. Siuslaw finished in seventh with 82 points, and North Bend finished 10th with 73 points. The Pirates finished 1-2 in the 106-pound class, with Kody Koumentis winning by major decision over Richard Rayburn, 8-0. Both AJ Lira at 132 and Garrett Lefebvre at 138 won their weight classes with pins, and William Jantzer (145), Cade Hite (160) and Travis Wittlake (170) all finished first in their weight divisions as well for Marshfield. Siuslaws Richard Huff defeated Frankie Harlow of Marshfield, 6-5, to win the 113-pound class, and Kainan Lane pinned Phoenixs Ishmael DeLaTorre in 3:20 to finish third in the 285-pound weight class. Coltyn Ringen finished second for North Bend at 126 pounds after losing to Cole Waldron of Douglas, and the Bulldogs Austin Miller came in third at 145 pounds.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa Although he was a district champion after Saturday’s Class 2A meet in Maquoketa, West Liberty’s Bryce Esmoil was more proud of someone else.

“Will (Esmoil) was like a hammer today,” Bryce Esmoil said. “Today wasn’t really my day but overall it was pretty fun. (Will) and I challenge each other. I’m just really happy for him.”

Bryce Esmoil, a junior, punched a ticket to his third straight state tournament by winning the 195-pound division. He will be joined by younger brother and Comets freshman Will Esmoil, who won the 106-pound title.

Will Esmoil won both his matches by fall, taking out Alaina Sunlin from Monticello in the semifinals and then beating Jack Streicher of Mount Vernon.

Joe Kelly will join the Esmoil brothers at state as he claimed the championship at 152 pounds. Kelly won his 40th match of the season by pinning Beckman Catholic’s Cody Feldman in 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

Bryce Esmoil said having his brother on the varsity team has helped both wrestlers reach their potential during the season.

“We really push each other,” Bryce said. “Sometimes I do better at tournaments than him and then sometimes he does better than me, so it’s great to be able to share those experiences.”

Behind the three champions and third-place finishes from Talen Dengler (113), Coy Ruess (126), Noah Bierman (132) and Austin Beaver (145), the Comets were able to take second place in the team standings with 98 points.

Davenport Assumption won the meet with 117.5 points.

West Liberty coach Jeff Wiele said he was proud of the state qualifiers and how the rest of the team battled during the tournament.

“Our kids wrestled hard,” Wiele said. “We were right there in many of the matches. All the matches were tough. I think Bryce and Will really help each other. They watch each other and try to help each other out. Those three (qualfiers) should make it a lot of fun in the next week.”

COLUMBUS QUALIFIES TWO: Columbus Community senior Tucker Morrison won a 170-pound district title at Fairfield on Saturday, his third straight state tournament berth.

He’ll be joined in Des Moines starting on Thursday by sophomore teammate Jarod Kadel, who lost a 10-0 major decision to top-ranked Grayson Kesterson of Williamsburg in the final to secure his first state berth.

Morrison, who improved to 45-2 on the season, won by pinfall in his semifinal before beating Solon’s Mike Hoyle by major decision, 9-0, to clinch his return to Wells Fargo Arena.

After a slow start, the Lady Comets cruised to a 51-31 win at Constantine to improve to 9-7 overall. They had many chances early to score, but couldnt capitalize and led after the first quarter 6-4.

Midway through the second quarter, the Comets went on a 7-0 run to grab the lead at 15-8; a lead they didnt give up the rest of the way. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half with the Comets going into the locker room ahead 23-14.

The Falcons scored off some offensive rebounds in the third quarter and narrowed the lead to 4. The Comets ended the quarter on a 5-0 run with quick layups from Aliyah Lemmer and Carmen Katje and a free throw from Haley Balkema.

The Lady Comets stretched the lead to 16 with two quick baskets- one by Abigail Dykema off a beautiful pass from Jaxsen Meldrum and the second by Balkema. They continued to stretch the lead, eventually winning by 20.

The Lady Comets were led by Haley Balkema with 15 points and Carmen Katje with 14. Madelyn Batts added 4 and Abigail Dykema, Jaxsen Meldrum, and Sidney Duong each added 4 of their own. They return to action Tuesday night at home against Martin

MATT SEAMON/FOR THE STANDARD-SPEAKER Hazleton Areas Joey Grula (22) tries to get in front of Crestwoods Kyle Gegaris during their WVC Division I boys basketball showdown at Hazleton Area on Friday night. The Cougars pulled out a 43-41 to clinch a tie for the division championship.

Included in the Hazleton Area boys basketball programs previous 499 wins over the past 25 seasons were several thrillers over Crestwood.

No. 500 also came at the Comets expense in just the latest exciting chapter between the Wyoming Valley Conferences most intense rivals on Friday night at Hughie McGeehan Gymnasium.

Michael Cusatis put in the game-winning basket with 52 seconds left and the Hazleton Areas defense stepped up late to preserve the Cougars 43-41 come-from-behind win, giving them no worse than a tie for their second straight Division I championship.

We battled, but we stuck together, Cusatis said. As long as we keep our heads, we can get through a lot of stuff, even if things are looking bad for us.

Indeed, for huge stretches of their showdown, it looked like the Comets would avenge a 32-point home loss to Hazleton Area last month and the Cougars would have to keep scarlet their pre-ordered T-shirts emblazoned with the silver numbers 5-0-0 across their chests inside a box for another day.

Hats off to them, Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph said. They came in here really ready to play… We let them off the hook in the second quarter, but they hit some threes and battled back and had us chasing them around.

Trailing in the fourth quarter for just the fifth time in 19 games forced to go deep into their bench, the Cougars overcame a four-point deficit, tied the game on Jeff Planutis highlight reel-worthy dunk and went ahead to stay

on Cusatis floater in the lane with just under a minute left.

Crestwood then held the ball, playing for the tie or win at the buzzer. But Josh Samec blocked Noah Jacksons three-point attempt and the ball bounced into Cusatis hands, keeping the Cougars unbeaten in WVC play and extending their winning streak to 16 games overall.

You cant create an oil painting every game, said Joseph, paraphrasing a quote from Joe Maddon, the Chicago Cubs manager and Hazleton native. Sometimes you ugly.

Ugly in regard to Fridays game would be based on ones interpretation. Hazleton Area wanted to apply its pressure defense, force turnovers and score points in bunches like the Cougars did in their 62-30 victory over the Comets last month.

Crestwood, meanwhile, was content to run its motion offense until an open shot arose or a Comet player found a cutting teammate who had a layup or drew a foul. The ploy was meant to frustrate the Cougars, slow them down, get them off their game, maybe take some of their better players out of the game.

And it worked for the most as both Cusatis and Joey Grula finished the game with four fouls apiece and Planutis played with three.

Im proud of my guys, Crestwood head coach Mark Atherton said. I thought we did what we had to do to try to win the game. We had a chance at the end. It just came down to one possession.

The strategy helped the Comets (14-6, 11-3) overcome a 19-10 deficit in the second quarter, which the Cougars built largely on the shooting of Samec, Grula and Planutis. But Kyle Gegaris knocked down two triples from the top of the key and Kevin Klusewitz and Kyle Richards each buried their own threes to put Crestwood on top 23-22 with3:05 left before halftime.

Gegaris later added a jumper and a free throw to add to his teams lead, before Grulas two foul shots pulled the Cougars within 26-24 at halftime.

Senior Lance Blass almost single-handedly continued the Comets momentum in the third quarter as he muscled in a layup that he converted into a three-point play and later rattled in a triple from the corner to give the Comets their biggest lead of the night (32-26) at the 5:25 mark.

Hazleton Area picked itself off the deck with a 7-0 run that gave the Cougars back the lead and re-energized the crowd. Samec swished a step-back three, before Planutis scored in transition and then on a reverse layup on a feed from reserve Isaac Perez.

The Cougars maintained their 33-32 edge until Klusewitz beat the buzzer with a triple that had the Crestwood fans buzzing and Comets feeling confident.

We went out there and gave it every thing we got, Blass said. We got it right where we wanted it to be.

The Comets were feeling even better after Blass again worked the baseline for a deuce and Jackson cashed a Klusewitz feed into a deuce that made it 39-36 with six minutes showing on the scoreboard clock.

Planutis got one point back with a free throw, then probably made the play of the night, when he stole an inbound pass and put down one-handed jam that tied the game at 39 brought Hazleton Area fans to their feet with 5:20 left.

I just got the steal and I said, Im going up with it, Planutis said. Just hoping for the best.

Crestwood, however, kept its calm and stayed with its game plan until missing a shot. Samec was fouled on the other and dropped in two free throws to give the Cougars back the lead (41-39) as the clock ticked under four minutes.

In no hurry to rush things, the Comets took their time on their next possession until spotting Blass free. His spinning layup re-tied it at 41 with 1:19 left.

Then it was the Cougars turn to play offense. They got the ball to Cusatis, whose shot from in the lane was the eventual game-winner.

The Comets then spread the floor, hoping to force overtime or complete their upset.

Samec and the Cougars had other idea in what they call their monster defense, an extended 1-3-1 zone.

We didnt want them to shoot the three, Samec said. We packed it in and denied their whole right side. They ended up getting the ball to the person we wanted to have shoot it… and I just happened to be there.

This just shows that we have resilience, he added. It should help us in the long run.

The Comets should benefiit too come District 2 playoff time.

I thought our kids kept their composure throughout the game, Atherton said. We fought back and fought back… We were a couple plays away from winning this game… But by the same token, our kids upset they came close to beating a very good team.

EAGLE POINT Crater built a commanding lead at the Midwestern League district championships after advancing 22 wrestlers into todays semifinals with an impressive first-day showing at Eagle Point High on Friday.

The Comets amassed 225.5 points to take a sizable lead into todays final rounds over second-place Thurston (157). Eagle Point stands third with 84 points with Ashland fourth at 74.

Action resumes with semifinals at 10 a.m. this morning. The championship finals are projected to begin at 2 p.m. in Eagle Point.

Overall it was a smooth first day and what was predicted, said Eagle Point head coach Kacey McNulty. There werent any big upsets that I saw. If youre a Crater fan then things are rolling along pretty good with them already over 200 points after Day 1 with a full lineup.

The Eagles advanced eight wrestlers into todays semifinals, while Ashland has four within one victory of the championship finals.

The top four finishers advance to the Class 5A state tournament set Feb. 24-25 at Portlands Memorial Coliseum.

2A/1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 3 PRE-DISTRICT: At Culver, Billie Tucker placed first at 285 pounds to lead the charge for Butte Falls/Prospect, which finished sixth overall at the 10-school event at Culver High.

Tucker received byes into the championship finals before scoring a pin on Central Linns Justin Malone at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

Ryan Cicero placed fourth at 152 after suffering pins in the semifinals and third-place finals, while Jonathan Gagnon (145) won his fifth-place final with a pin in 1:52 over Keith Swan of North Lake and Tyler Haskell advanced to the semifinals at 170 but suffered two falls before having to forfeit the fifth-place final to place sixth.

Space. I love space. I didnt study astronomy or anything related, but Ive been an armchair astronomer since I was 11 and pored over a giant picture book detailing our solar system, galaxy and what might lie beyond. I never actually considered studying the stars, nor did I catch the astronaut bug as a child, but sometimes I think I may have missed a calling.

Of course, 21st-century technology hasonly fed my obsession. Ive perused a few space-related apps, and although I havent tried them all I found my favorite easily. The interface is marvelous in its simplicity and I can tell the developers are making good use of phones capabilities. This app could be pared down to its most-basic interaction and still be great, but the depth of information behind its wow-factor is remarkable.

This app makes my not-so-inner nerd sing.

Itscalled SkyGuide, and its available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch (the last of which I havent experimented with). Its $2.99 in the Apple App Store.

Something comparable on the Android appears to be Star Walk 2, which is $0.99 on Google Play. Reviews for this app have been similarly favorable to the iOSs SkyGuide. (Do you have a favorite astronomy app for Android? Tell us in the comments!)

Far and away the best feature of the SkyGuide app is the main attraction the ability to lift your phone up to the sky and see all of the constellations, planets, satellites, comets and other space objects in your phones field of view.

I cant even count the number of times Ive been sitting outside with friends who look up and wonder what a certain bright dot is in the sky. If I dont already know, out comes SkyGuide, in which we inevitably lose ourselves in for the next 15 minutes.

The app gets even moreexcitingfor big events past and the future including this years total solar eclipse which will be visible across North America. Curious what that will look like from where youre standing? Turn the time forward to Aug. 21, 2017, between 2 and 4 p.m., Eastern time.

Im in Washington, which will not see the moon cover all of the sun. But it will come close. I could always drive to North Carolina, I suppose.

Nowlets look at Fridays lunar eclipse! I can do this right now by changing the sky time, so to speak, to the time of peak eclipse. When I do, the sky appears exactly as it will at 7:44 p.m. Eastern time, including the shadowed moon. The moon will not turn red tonight, since its not a total lunar eclipse. It will turn gray as Earths shadow grazes the moon.

It labels comets, constellations, meteor showers and individual stars. I spoke with the developers at Fifth Star Labs and they saidregrettably, they did not get Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajduskov into the app in time for tonights pass. Each event is added by hand and there are a lot of comets. Understandably, its hard to know which ones will pique peoples interest in advance.

At the very least, set up an alert for the International Space Station and impress your friends by pointing it out in the sky. Youll earn some serious nerd-cred.

FITHIAN Oakwood coach Jeff Ford admitted it. A first quarter like his team had Thursday night against Watseka just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting would have been a difficult slow start to recover from earlier this season.

The young Oakwood girls basketball lineup with two freshmen and two sophomores starting might have struggled. The Comets did struggle sometimes in those situations at the beginning of the season.

But Thursdays slow start was one Oakwood was better suited to handle.

The third-seeded Comets showed some poise, knocked down more shots and turned a four-point halftime lead into a 55-39 victory in the championship game of their own Class 2A regional. The win sends Oakwood (26-4) into Tuesdays sectional semifinal against Monticello at St. Thomas More.

Thats where Ive seen the progression over the year, Ford said. Early on, when we got down like that to an excellent team like Watseka, we would have lost. I just think theyve matured a lot. Theyve been in big games.

Junior guard Shaelyn Turner the only upperclassman in the starting lineup and one of four on the Comets roster said Oakwoods chemistry has improved during the course of the season. The Comets have a better feel for what everyone can do on the court together.

We started to get comfortable with each other and know whos hot and whos not and get them the ball, Turner said. We just worked together as a team to get it done in the second half.

Turner was one of four Oakwood players in double figures with 12 points, getting several of her dozen off Watseka turnovers she forced. Kylie Neuman led the Comets with 16 points, Katelyn Young finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds and Rylee Dowers had 12 points.

Second-seeded Watseka focused its defensive attention primarily on Young Oakwoods 6-foot-1 Division I prospect. The Comets said they know they have to make shots when teams do that. Neuman, Turner and Dowers, the latter of whom made Oakwoods only two three-pointers, did just that.

I thought we did a decent job on Young, said Watseka coach Barry Bauer, whose team was led offensively by Summer Cramer with 17 points. If youre going to pick your poison a little bit, I think its going to be from the perimeter with Oakwood. Even some of the ones they shot close to the three-point line, I thought we had a hand up. A good team makes shots like that.

It was all part of Oakwoods comeback bid. The Comets shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, hauled in plenty of offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities and continued to force turnovers by the Warriors (23-8).

We realize whats at stake, Neuman said. If we lose, were done, so we know weve got to give it all. We do that. We go for every loose ball. We know its the little things that can change a game. Once we get on a run, we just try to keep it.

Neuman was the most efficient on the offensive end, going 8 of 12 from the field and helping spark the Comets as they pulled away in the final 16 minutes.

When you see somebody make a shot, youre like, Yeah! Neuman said. We were getting open shots, and we were hitting them.

You could tell it was catching once a couple of them started hitting, Ford added. Everybody else got a little bit of confidence, and that made a huge difference.

Cancel all your plans immediately: tonight, stargazers will be able to view a penumbral lunar eclipse, a stunning full moon, and a comet flyby. Itll make for a fantastic Friday night, and its totally free!

Its worth noting that lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon, but penumbral lunar eclipses are still pretty special, albeit subtle. These sorts of eclipses occur when the Moon enters the outer region of Earths shadow, called the penumbra. Observers will notice an unusual dark shade toward the top of the moon when it reaches mid-eclipse, since this will be the region closest to the Earths full shadow, called the umbra. Since penumbral eclipses are more subtle than partial eclipses, stargazers will have to look carefully to see this slightly darker shadeunless they live in Australia or Japan, where the eclipse wont be visible at all. Sorry, guys.

For those who plan to watch, remember to look up at 7:43PM ET (4:43 PT)thats when the Moon will be darkest. Every year, two to five lunar eclipses occur, and one in every three will be penumbral. However, this will be the only penumbral lunar eclipse of 2017.

Farmers Almanacs have long referred to the full moon in February as the snow moon. The snow moon name allegedly traces backhundreds of years, to Native Americans who used the name to keep track of seasons. The full moon in February was associated with a cold and snowy month that made hunting difficult, and thus, the snow moon was born. Its also sometimes called the hunger moon.

But with comet 45P coming into join the party, this eclipse will be extra special. The comet is a Jupiter family comet, meaning its orbit is determined by Jupiters gravitational pull. Its believed that such comets originated in the Kuiper Belt, where an abundance of icy-rock clusters are organized just beyond Neptunes orbit. There are roughly 400 Jupiter family comets that we know of, though comet 45Ps greenish glowwhich comes from the diatomic carbon in its nucleusmakes it a little more special.

Youll have to stay up a little longer to see comet 45P, which will whizz by Earth around 3AM ET. This particular comet is a fast one, traveling at about 51,000 miles per hour, and only visits Earth twice per decade. Unfortunately, comet 45P wont be visible to the naked eyeyoull need a telescope or binoculars to view it.

Dont let this opportunity fly bycomet 45P wont come this close to Earth again until 2022. Slooh will be broadcasting live views of the snow moon starting at 5:30PM ET (2:30PM PT), and a live stream for the comet starting at 10:30PM ET (7:30 PM PT). You can check it all out below:

This artist’s concept shows a massive, comet-like object falling toward a white dwarf. New Hubble Space Telescope findings are evidence for a belt of comet-like bodies orbiting the white dwarf, similar to our solar system’s Kuiper Belt. The findings also suggest the presence of one or more unseen surviving planets around the white dwarf, which may have perturbed the belt to hurl icy objects into the burned-out star.(Photo: NASA)

Astronomers in Germany have found a massive, comet-like object packed with the essentials of life: Water, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and sulfur.

The icy object has been ripped apart, scattering debris near a burned-out star. It’s also similar in composition to the famed Halley’s comet, but is about 100,000 times larger and contains more water.

Astronomers in Garching, Germany, used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to make the discovery. They say the debris from the object is polluting the white dwarf, or a star such as the sun that runs out of nuclear fuel. The white dwarf is located about 170 light years away from Earth.

It’s the first time scientists have discovered comet-like material in a white dwarf’s atmosphere. About a quarter to a half of white dwarves are polluted by the debirs ofasteroid-like bodies.

USA TODAY

Triple treat: Eclipse, comet, full moon all coming Friday night

The discovery also suggests there could be planets that have survived the star’s demise. Those planets, the astronomers said, may have drawn the icy object toward the white dwarf.

The cosmic find also tells researchers there may be a belt of comets orbiting the burned-out star similar to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt, near Neptune. The comets from the Kuiper Belt, NASA said, may be responsible for providingwater and other material that served as the basis for the creation of Earth billions of years ago.

The researcher who led the discovery team, Siyi Xu, said this is the first time nitrogen has been found in debris falling onto a white dwarf.

“Nitrogen is a very important element for life as we know it,” XU said. “This particular object is quite rich in nitrogen, more so than any object observed in our solar system.”

Halifax County High School needed a win in Thursday night’s final regular-season game against Martinsville High School to have a shot at earning the second seed and a first-round bye in next week’s 5A North Region Conference 16 Tournament, but came up short.

After a fourth-quarter rally got the Comets to within two points with 51 seconds left in the game, they victimized themselves with three turnovers in the final 45 seconds and lost to Martinsville High School 46-41 in the game played at Halifax County Middle School.

The loss left the Comets, who finished the season with a 14-7 overall record, as the third seed for next week’s Conference 16 Tournament. Halifax County High School will host sixth seed Patrick Henry-Ashland Monday night at 7 p.m. at Halifax County High School.

That game will follow an opening-round game in the girls tournament in which third seed Halifax County High School will host Patrick Henry-Ashland at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday night’s game was a tough one for the Comets as they struggled against Martinsville High School’s active zone defense. The Comets hit only three of 11 attempts from 3-point range and had 15 turnovers in the game.

“It was just a tough night for us,” remarked Comets Head Coach Sterling Williams.

“We couldn’t knock down the shots, and we couldn’t get the ones around the basket to fall.”

Williams said Martinsville High School played as he expected it to play, sticking with a zone defense the entire night.

“That’s what they do,” Williams pointed out.

“They play zone all the time. We also had some situations in which we turned the ball over late in the game. It hurt us. On the other end, they were able to get to the basket and finish around the basket.”

Zion Bailey led the Comets in scoring with 14 points, but had only one field goal in the second half, that one a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. James Smith Jr. followed with 12 points after being held to just four points in the first half. Ford Morrison chipped in nine points. Tyliek Powell and reserve Shelquan Edmonds both had three points. Only five Comets players scored in the game.

After failing to lead any of the first quarter that ended with Martinsville High School up 10-9, the Comets took the lead in the second quarter with two free throws from Bailey, a layup from Smith after a steal and a layup from Bailey after another steal to go up 18-14 with 4:44 left in the first half.

The Comets led 20-17 after Morrison hit a shot from inside the paint with 4:20 left in the half. Martinsville High School answered with a 10-2 run over the last 3:19 of the half with E.J. Bratcher connecting three times from deep in the paint to give Martinsville High School a 28-22 lead at halftime.

Martinsville High School led by as many as a dozen points in the third quarter as the Comets went just over half of the quarter without a score. A basket from Morrison inside the paint and a free throw from Smith in the last 1:01 of the quarter accounted for half of the six points the Comets scored in the quarter as they trailed 37-28 entering the final period.

A 3-point basket from Bailey and two free throws from Smith to open the fourth quarter gave the Comets life as they cut their deficit to four points at 37-33 with 6:45 left in the game.

Trailing 43-35, the Comets saw Powell complete a three-point play after being fouled to get to within five points. A 3-point shot from Smith with 51 seconds left in the game got the Comets to within two points at 43-41.

The Comets got a break when the Bulldogs were cited for a backcourt violation, but turned the ball over themselves on the ensuing possession. Forced to foul, the Comets put the Bulldogs’ Zanthus Hairston on the free throw line. Hairston missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, and the Comets got the ball back, only to turn it over again, this time on a bad pass that sailed out of bounds after hitting the backboard.

Again forced to foul in an attempt to get the ball back, the Comets targeted Hairston another time with 16 seconds left. Hairston made the first shot at the charity stripe to put the Bulldogs up 44-41, but missed the second attempt. The Comets got the ball back, only to again lose it on a turnover.

The Bulldogs’ T.J. Pettway quickly broke down the floor on the inbounds play, snared a pass and dunked a layup with two seconds left to give Martinsville High School the final five-point margin.

Aaron Martin led Martinsville High School in scoring with 15 points that included a pair of 3-point baskets. Bratcher followed with 12 points and Pettway chipped in eight points.

For the Comets, the object now is to put the loss behind them and get ready for Monday’s opening-round game of the Conference 16 Tournament.

“We’ve got to get back up and dust ourselves off and get ready for the playoff run starting Monday,” Williams said.

“We’ve got tough guys. This is what we do. We look for challenges. I think the guys will be ready to play.”

John Beck, the head football coach for the Crater Comets the past 13 years, is hanging up his whistle.

Crater High School athletic director David Heard announced Beck’s resignation Friday. Heard, in a press release, said Beck wanted to spend more time with his family.

Beck led the Comets to four league championships, and the Class 5A semifinals in 2015 and a pair of quarterfinal appearances. He was named a league coach of the year four times and posted a 69-68 overall record during his tenure.

NASELLE Against their perennial competitor for the Coastal League title, the Lady Comets offense was stymied early. Taholah held Naselle to just one point until the final possession of the first quarter.

Taholah concentrated on denying baskets to stars Tayler Ford and Ellie Chapman, and Naselles third scorer, Taylor Gudmundsen, was out with an illness. The Comets found answers from their rotation of inside players, who also anchored a strong defense. Without any player scoring more than six points, the Comets beat Taholah 41-31 to clinch the Coastal League title on senior night Saturday, Feb. 4.

Ford had burned the Lady Chitwhins for 30 points in Naselles January win, so Taholah knew it could not leave her any space to shoot this time. The Comets took a while to figure out how to attack Taholahs defense. It looked kind of like a man defense, kind of like a zone, said Naselle coach Rose Nisbet. They were playing man on Tayler and Ellie, and inside they had a triangle zone with one player at the top of the key and two near the basket. We figured out where the openings were.

Lily Harman put back her own miss off a baseline drive at the end of the first quarter, cutting the Chitwhins lead to 9-3, and beginning a 19-0 run that lasted through the early third quarter. Our defense feeds our offense, said Chapman. We held them scoreless the whole second quarter, and [those stops] helped get our offense going.

Off a long defensive rebound in that second quarter, Chapman took off and delivered through traffic to Ford, who hit a layup that tied the game at nine. Chapman found Hailey Weston out ahead of the defense shortly after, and fired a long arcing pass to Ford for a 16-9 lead.

The Comets were also finding success in the post, as their frontcourt players set each other up with passes. They were doubling Ellie and Tayler, Weston said. We had open shots if we could get it inside. The Comets post rotation of Weston, Kyryn Jacot, Amelia Tutuu, and Lilli Zimmerman combined for 22 points in the game.

While the Lady Comets were extremely balanced on offense, the Chitwhins relied on Denise Dolan, who scored 15 points. Chapman guarded Dolan and stayed in front of her, reacting quickly to her moves. However, Dolan got going in the third quarter, hitting a three-pointer and scoring twice in fast breaks. Then, with the Comets lead dwindling, Chapman dived to save a ball going out of bounds but threw it right to Dolan, who took off in the open court again. Ford made a fantastic play, getting in Dolans path to the basket and forcing her to pull back; Taholah came up empty on the possession.

Taholah scored five points in the final 30 seconds of the third. Kayleah McCrory rattled in a three-pointer, and Dolan hit a pull-up 16-footer with seven seconds in the period. Taholah won the quarter 18-8, with Dolan scoring nine points in the period, and Taholah led 27-26 heading into the fourth.

Sophie Scrabeck found Tutuu open in the high post for a bucket to start the fourth quarter. That started a 10-0 run, which Scrabeck capped with a pull-up fade-away jumper with 4:12 remaining.

The 54 Chapman leapt between two big defenders to tip an offensive rebound to Ridgeway, then scored on a pass from Ridgeway, a characteristic play in the last regular season game of a memorable career. That gave Naselle a 38-29 lead with 3:25 to go, and the Comets closed out the win.

Kyryn Jacot, Lily Harman and Lilli Zimmerman led Naselle with six points apiece, with Jacot hitting three of four shots. Chapman had six assists, no turnovers, ten rebounds and three steals. Ford came up with four steals.

Ford transferred to Naselle as a sophomore and emerged as a reliable double-figures scorer. This is the sweetest group of girls Ive ever been around, she said. The team has grown so much.

Chapman, with her dazzling passes, made her teammates better. Shes a fun teammate, said Hailey Weston, a sophomore. We come up with plays during timeouts, and shes always looking to set other people up. Shes so unselfish; she passes more than she should. Weston credits the recent growth of her own game to Chapman and Ford, along with coach Nisbet. Tayler is funny, but at the same time very serious about basketball, keeping the team focused, Weston said.

Tutuu enjoyed this season more than any other in her basketball career. It went by fast Before this year, I wasnt really much of a basketball person, said Tutuu, who stood out in other sports throughout her career and has emerged as a defensive stopper this season. Ive gained confidence. This team has been together for all sports and gotten closer.

Oakville falls to NHS

OAKVILLE Naselle beat Oakville 49-19 on Jan. 31.

The game got off to a slow start offensively, but Ellie Chapman opened the second period hitting a tough running floater while being fouled. Chapman completed the three-point play just 13 seconds into the quarter for an 11-1 lead. Hailey Weston twice beat the defense down-court for easy baskets to help the Comets build a 22-9 lead by halftime.

Tayler Ford put the game out of reach with nine quick points at the start of the second half. She twice cut along the baseline to work her way open for corner three-pointers. On the second such play, a lunging defender fouled Ford as she made the shot, and Ford converted the four-point play for a 33-9 lead with 5:09 to go in the third.

Ford finished with 18 points, Chapman had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Weston contributed 11 points in the post.

UTICA A former Utica Comets player provided a possible explanation for what has been helping Darren Archibald this season.

Brandon DeFazio, who played with the Utica Comets and Archibald during the franchises first two seasons in Utica, joked recently on the social media site Twitter that a well-known Italian chain restaurant might be part of the reason for some of the success the Newmarket, Ontario, native has had this season.

“(Archibald) must be eating @OliveGarden,” tweeted DeFazio, who is a member of the Dallas Stars organization this season.

Whatever Archibald who turns 27 on Thursday is eating this season, it seems to be working for the Comets left winger in his fifth professional season.

It is a pleasant surprise for the Comets in a season filled with numerousups and downs.

With a power-play goal from in front in the first-period of Tuesdays 4-2 loss against Toronto, Archibald became the teams leader in goals while playing in his 300th career regular season game in the American Hockey League. The goal on the man-advantage was his second in as many games and is notable because Archibald, who has also been a key member of the teams 16th-ranked penalty kill this season, had zero power-play goals in 224 previous regular-season games with the Comets. Hes also found chemistry playing a majority of the season with Curtis Valk.

His career-best 15th goal is another milestone this season for Archibald, who also has career-bests in assists (15) and points (30) while playing in each of the teams 45 games. Hes also been a stranger to the penalty box, totaling 25 minutes with a lone fight major. By comparison, he had 96 penalty minutes in 51 regular-season games in an injury-shortened 2015-16 season.

It is all part of how Comets coach Travis Green has said Archibalds game has grown this season.

When Archibald signed an American Hockey League deal with Comets in July to play in Utica for a fourth season, the reaction among fans on social media seemed to be mixed. There were those who were obviously happy about Archibald returning to the fold hes a favorite among Mohawk Valley hockey fans because for his physical presence over the past few seasons. There were some who wondered how much a help he could provided.

Recently, a small group of Comets fans have been chanting Archibalds name late in close games at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in hopes of seeing another. Hes done it three times this season, most recently against Syracuse on Jan. 11. Before this season, he hadnt scored any winning goals in 266 regular-season games.

With the Comets (18-19-6-2) in a tight battle for the fourth spot in the North Division fifth-place Utica is three points back of Toronto heading into Fridays game between the teams at the Aud will continue to need Archibalds spark with 31 remaining games.

Heres your daily reminder that the final frontier is ruthless: For the first time ever, scientists have spotted a comet-like object getting torn apart by a white dwarf star. Thankfully, this pugnacious little starcalled WD 1425+540is located 170 lightyears away from Earth in the constellation Botes, which may or may not be a piece of IKEA furniture.

No one expected stumble across this cosmic catastrophe; Scientists at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii discovered the scene while they were using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope simply to observe WD 1425+540’s stellar atmosphere. But they quickly found evidence a comet-like object had wandered too close to the white dwarf, and was in the midst of getting ripped apart by the stars gravity. While white dwarf stars have been known to rip apart asteroid-like objects, this is the first time one has been observed tearing up something icy and comet-like.

The team determined that this ill-fated object was actually very similar in composition to Halleys Comet, which comes close to Earth once every 75 years. Both comets are rich in essential elements like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, although this new one was 100,000 times more massive than its famous relative. It also contained twice as much water, so its demise must have made quite a mess.

This cosmic oddity might be evidence of something larger. The researchers think there could be an entire belt of these comet-like objects in the vicinity of WD 1425+540, organized much like the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. While its not definitive proof, its an idea that could warrant future analysis.

The top-ranked Class 3A Go-Hawks did just that Tuesday night, defeating the Comets 71-45 to capture their second straight outright Northeast Iowa Conference championship.

W-SR carried a 12-11 lead into the second quarter before outscoring Charles City 24-11 to take complete control of the game.

Senior forward Austin Phyfe paced the Go-Hawks with 19 points on the night, including 10 in the third quarter. Junior post player Jacob Bahe finished with 11 points, while guards John Stensland and Jack Seward recorded 10, respectively.

The win marked the first time the Go-Hawks have gone undefeated (12-0) in conference play since the 2011-12 season, the third undefeated conference season under coach Nate Steege and the seventh conference championship since he’s been coach of the program.

For full coverage of this story, read the Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 edition of the Waverly Democrat.